It's amazing how fast this story changed from "Mullen is an idiot for not playing this Heisman Trophy level QB" to "This guy should be a tight end"... IMO, from what I've seen, Richardson is a serviceable SEC QB, but not a top tier guy, has days when he is off, and is probably being protected by the coaches as far as his running and sliding because coaches know it's a big drop off after him. 35 points on LSU should be enough to win ... but when you give up a TD ever time the other team touches the ball, there isn't much a QB can do about it...
I wonder if LSU fans were clamoring for Burrow to switch to TE in 2018. Not saying AR = Burrow, but he had a pretty middling first season and has some speed and size, too.
1st year at LSU, 58 % completion rate, 16 TDs, 5 INT's. So, the answer is I doubt they were clamoring for a change. Now empire to your point, JB was a superstar the following year. (By the way, JB only had 1 year where completion percentage was under 60% on average). What is ARs last year? What is AR's this year? JB had a significant jump his senior year so AR could very well have a similar jump next year as everyone here hopes. Contrary to what many believe of my original post, I do not see AR becoming a TE here at UF. I do hope for an honest qb competition and if he's the best then great. I hope any uf qb succeeds both in college and in the pros. However, if improvement doesn't happen, I believe he is athletic enough to still play in the NFL.
AR is learning to play the position at this level. He’s improving. He will get better. I think it’s too early to put a ceiling on him just yet. I agree he goes through his progressions well. Issue is, he needs to have a better internal clock to get rid of the ball or run on time and with decisiveness. That will come with experience.
Biggest difference is Burrow did not turn the ball over. I believe his first int of the season was against us. He may not have been doing anything amazing, but he was not hurting his team either.
If I may use your post as an assist to your reply, what is missed, presumably in spades, is that while Mullen did not have a bona fide 2021 Heisman contender, he plainly had a viable Plan B at QB...IF he were healthy. Can you honestly say that, if he was healthy last year and Mullen decided to give him an honest chance to be QB1 instead of the crap he did against UGa (IMO), he would not have done better than EJ and then had that many more games to have matured to a better-than-serviceable SEC QB for this season? You know, what we are wanting to do now (mainly) with our freshmen and second year players; get them better prepared for next season. Hindsight is what you make of it. It appears that the poster and you prefer one that is different from some of us.
Just for the heck of it and obviously I'm not in this for brownie points, what is it about AR so far that some believe he is a can't miss #1 nfl draft pick? Now it is obvious he has a rocket of an arm, height and speed. Those are huge attributes and definitely a plus for a qb at the next level. So, in his stint at UF in all the games he has played, he has 13 TD's & !3 INT's. His completion percentage remains about 56% on average. Yards passing this year is 1,367 which ranks 85th. TD 6 ranking 100th, INT's 7 ranking 94 (not a good #), and his current qbr 67.4. His best games, Utah and UT but keep in mind UT D is ranked somewhere in the 100's. So is it his intangibles? Is it his potential? Is it that he has dual capability (however it seems he is injury prone). Help me to see what ya'll are seeing. Just an honest question.
I'm not saying fans were wrong to want AR, I'm actually saying he's been a bigger improvement over EJ than some people want to admit... He's ranked 45th in QB rating, which is pretty average, but not really someone we should talking about dumping for some other unknown QB during their first full season in the SEC. I'd use your post to assist with my reply, if you think AR would have gotten better by playing more games last year under Mullen, then surely think he still has chance to get better under the new coaches ...
Ridiculous statement! AR is basically a freshman with limited playing time. He does not have a full supporting cast on the field but does enough to win. It's the defense that has cost us a few games including the Tennessee game and LSU &Kentucky.
Well, unfortunately it is all conjecture. We will never know. If we all want to be conspiratorial, it would be that Mullen had a three-year plan to get to the NFL, and it blew up in his face. 2021 was running out the clock before he took Plan B, which was to assist EJ as he was loyal to a fault (see Grantham and Hev) and was going to get his hefty parting gift. Personally, I am much less miffed about lost opportunities with players and program progress than I am with Dumbo taking the easy way out. And to me, has has NO CHANCE at coaching again. He has proven to be a very smart idiot, and I don't think any program (pros or college) would ever think he has learned anything. You can't be the "smartest" person in the room and learn from the "idiots" you have to surround yourself with. It is the way it works.
Trask for instance, with tons of better stats was picked in the third round and had less game experience than AR when he got his start. Trask hit the ground running and was a bright spot for the team who by the way also had one of the worst defenses. I could name some very good qbs who didn't need a lot of game experience to be really good. So, how many games is necessary to become an elite qb?
Game time notwithstanding, Kyle's first start was midway through his fourth year playing for Florida. AR's first start was midway through his second. Just for some perspective. Kyle was also drafted in the second round.
Passing is by far the number one skill a qb, especially if he wants to play on Sundays , has to have. I’m not sure what Napier is doing but teaching him to be a pocket passer and use his legs only when necessary is huge. Guys that rely on their legs don’t have very long careers.
I agree and have never suggested otherwise. QBs that are also a run threat, however, are in a better position to pass because the defense is at a disadvantage. 5 or so runs a game is not going to change his pocket passer abilities one bit, though. "Rely" is doing a lot of work here. Lots of very successful QBs use their legs without relying on them. The two skills are very complementary and it makes no sense to not use one. The idea that eschewing running will improve passing is very tenuous.
One of the things fans have been vocal about in their frustrations is a lack of designed runs, particularly out of the read option. There's no argument that AR keeping a few of these instead of handing off is going to hurt his passing. That doesn't make any sense.
